SASKATOON — Canadian wheat industry officials say they encountered intransigence, ignorance and indifference as they argued Canada’s case in Washington last week.
As the clock ticked down toward a decision on U.S. trade sanctions against imports of Canadian wheat, the group spent two days meeting senior U.S. political officials and bureaucrats, trying to convince them that the United States has no grounds to take action.
But, in the end, the last-ditch lobbying effort was probably more frustrating than productive, said some of those who took part.
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“We encountered hardened positions and hardened attitudes,” said Canadian Wheat Board commissioner Ken Beswick.
The issue has moved so far along in the political process that any further attempts to educate U.S. politicians and decision-makers about the realities of the Canadian grain-marketing system and cross-border trade seem almost pointless, he said.
“We just found a real lack of understanding, as you always do when you start talking with Americans about grain issues,” added Saskatchewan Wheat Pool vice-president Ray Howe.
Arguments that Canada’s wheat exports to the U.S. have been carried out in complete accordance with the Canada/U.S. and North American free-trade agreements and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade fell on deaf American ears.
“This has always been a political issue and was not really ever in the world of economics or logic,” said Beswick.
While acknowledging there has been some slight improvement, he said the Americans displayed their usual lack of knowledge about Canadian grain transportation subsidies and the wheat board.
Congressional staff who met with the Canadian delegation often didn’t seem interested in learning anything, said Beswick.
“For example, I think some of them simply don’t believe us when we say there is no government subsidy in the normal, day-to-day operation of the Canadian Wheat Board.”
Canada Grains Council president Doug Campbell said he was surprised at the nonchalant attitude displayed by political officials from non-wheat growing states that could be affected by retaliatory trade sanctions imposed by Canada.
For example political officials from California had no idea their state ships some $2 billion worth of produce to Canada.
“We were pretty disappointed to meet them and see they didn’t realize this is a very healthy trade, nor did they seem to care if there was an imposition of sanctions,” he said.
